Hamagenim Forest occupies a vast territory and is located on hills from 170 to 260 meters high. The forest includes many ancient pieces of evidence of human presence, such as water reservoirs carved into the rock, wells, caves, wine presses, and ancient tombs. The modern forest is dedicated to the defenders of the country. This explains its name. One of the most significant sites in the forest is the ancient archaeological hill Tel Gezer. In the second century BC, the territory of the forest belonged to a local landowner named Alcius (Jona), as evidenced by the discovered stone with an inscription.
Photo By Shayshal2 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66362973
A few hours walk along Tel Gezer. You can start a day with a picnic in the charming forest of Hamagenim. Then, through the village of Karmay Yosef, we rise to the famous ancient hill Gezer. At this place, the battles of ancient history took place and the Egyptian pharaoh subjugated the disobedient rulers of Canaan. These rulers gathered together and concluded military alliances near one of the most mysterious structures of the ancient East - stone giants from Tel Gezer. Descent into an ancient well of forty-meter depth is the most mysterious part of the walk. We will end the day in the cool water spring of Yarda, where the battle of the Crusaders against Saladin once took place.
Cover photo by: Maximidf - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62461515
